Gate.



No. 836,233. PATENTED NOV. 20, 1906.

. J. L.- WOO'LARD.

GATE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7g 1905.

Inventor v I Atto'neys me Nan/eis PETER: ca., wasumcrowfoc.

vJOSEPH L. WOOLARD, vOF VVILLIAMSTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 20, 1906.

Application led June 7.1905. Serial No. 264,193.

To all whom t mal/y concern:

Be it known that l, J osErrrL. WooLARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Williamston, in the county of Martin and State of NorthCarolina, have invented a new and useful Gate, of which the following isa speci- 'lication This invention relates to swinging gates, and has forits object to provide novel controlling means including` hand-operatedlevers which are capable of manipulation at points remote from oppositesides of the gate, it being a particular object of the invention toshift the levers into oblique positions across the roadway when the gateis open, so as to give convenient access to the levers.

Another object of the invention is to provide for maintaining the gatein its closed and open positions without the employment oil latches.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accomp anying drawings, andparticularlypointed out in the appended claims, it being understood thatchanges in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be madewithin the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit orsacriiicing any of the advantages oi' the invention.

1n the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of aswinging gate equipped with the controlling mechanism of the presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the gate in its openposition. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the positions ofthe controlling-levers in the open and closed positions of the gate.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each andevery figure of the drawings.

While the present invention is applicable to any type of swinging gate,that shown in the accompanying drawings includes a series oflongitudinal rails 1, which are connected "by end bars 2 and 3, therebeing a diagonal brace 4 extending from the bottom of the rear end bar 2to the top of the front end bar 3. This gate is supported upon ahingepost 5, to which it is connected by suitable hinges 6, so as toswing thereon and be capable of closing against a post 7 at the oppositeside of the roadway.

In carrying out the present inventiona stub-post'S isgdrivenintojthegroundiatj'one side of the gate in alinement with the hingepost5 at substantially right angles to the closed position of the gate, andupon the top of this post is a swiveled block 9, pierced by an uprightpivot-pin 10', which connects the block to the post and around which theblock is adapted to turn. Associated with this swiveled block is avertically-swinging link 11, having one end provided with a fork 12,embracing the swiveled block 9 and pivotally connected thereto, as at13, upon a horizontal axis to permit vertical swinging of the link. Thefree end of this link is weighted, preferably by being enlarged, asshown at 14. Another vertically-swinging link 15 has its forward endpivotally or loosely connected to the gate, as at 16, preferably bymeans of a staple driven into the inclined brace 4, the other end of thelink being forked, as at 17, so as to straddle the link 11, to which itis pivotally connected, as at 18, upon a substantially horizontal axisat a suitable point inwardly from the free extremity of said link.

When the gate employed is'iormed of wire, it will be necessary to employan additional upright cross-bar for the pivotal connection of the link15 to the gate.

The links 11 and 15 being overlapped and pivotally connected at a point4inwardly from the free end of the weighted link, the weight tends toswing the gate closed and maintain the gate in its closed positionwithout the employment of latches or other fastening means.

To permit opening of the gate, a verticallyswinging hand-lever 19 isfulcrumed intermediate of its ends, as at 20, upon a short crossbar 21,secured to the two upper rails of the gate, that end of the lever whichis directed toward the hinged end of the gate being connected to themiddle of the link 15 by means of a chain 22 or other suitable flexibleconnection. By depressing the forward free end of the lever 19 the link15 will be swung upwardly, thereby swinging upwardly and rearwardly theotherlink 11, which in turn pulls upon the link 15, and thus swings thegate open.

The lever 19 is intended for use by pedestrians and is disposed forconvenient access 1from each side of the gate, said lever being foruse'in breaking upwardly the joint between the links 11 and 15, so as torelease the gate and permit of its being completely opened by pulling orushing upon the gate.

It is also proposed toprovideforzopening TOO ITO

' brace the post and to serve as a stop for the Iov hand levers, as willhereinafter appear. Upon the top of each post 23 there is a yokeshapedbracket 25, having a stem 26, rotatably set into a socket in the top ofthe post. In this bracket there is fulcrumed a vertically-swinging lever27, which is provided at its outer end with a depending handle 28- such,for instance, as a rope-while another rope 29 depends from the inner endof the lever and is secured to the forward free eX- tremity of theweighted link 1l.

With the gate in its closed position, as

shown in Fig. l of the drawings, the free end of either lever 27 isdrawn downward, thereby elevating its inner end, which draws upon therope, chain, or the like 29, thereby swinging the link. 11 upwardly andrearwardly, and consequently swinging the gate open. It is preferred togive the lever 27 a quick pull in order that the weighted link l1 may bethrown past the vertical or dead-center to insure the complete openingof the gate without a second manipulation of the lever and to preventstopping of the gate before it has been completelyopened. rIhe openingmovement of the gate is limited by the posts 23.

As best illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be noted that theinner ends of the lever 27 lie below the top of the arched brace 24 andagainst the back thereof in the closed position of the gate, and whenthe gate opens and the link 11 swings rearwardly past the vertical itpulls rearwardly upon the inner ends of the levers and shifts the sameupon their pivotal supports 25, so as to bring the outer free ends ofthe levers over the roadway into conveniently-accessible positions. Whenthe gate is closed, the levers are of course swung back into theiroriginal positions, the arched frame 24 serving as a stop to limit theforward-swinging movements of the inner ends ofthe levers, and therebymaintain the latter in rear of their point of connection with the link 1l to insure a rearward pull upon the link for swinging the samebackward. c I l Having thus described the invention, what is claimedis-.

l. The combination with a swinging gate, of a vertically-swinging linkpivotally supported independently of the gate, another link looselyconnected to the gate and pivotally connected to the iirst-mentionedlink, one of the links being weighted, a post, a bracket supported uponthe top of the post to rotate upon a vertical aXis, a verticallyswinginglever fulcrumed upon the bracket, a brace connected with the post tolimit the movement of the lever, and means connecting the lever with thefirst-mentioned link.

2. The combination with'a swinging gate, of a vertically-swin 'ing linkpivotally supported independenty of the gate, another link looselyconnectedv to the gate and pivotally connected to the first-mentionedlink, posts at opposite sides of the gate, a brace connecting the posts,levers fulcrumed to swinO vertically upon the posts and mounted to shiftlaterally upon vertical axes, and connections between the inner ends ofthe levers and the first-mentioned link, the levers being shiftedlaterally by the swinging movements of said Erst-mentioned link, and thebrace lying in the paths of the forward shifting movements of the leversto limit said movements.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH L. VOOLARI). Witnesses:

J. H. JooHUM, Jr., W. J. DILLoN.

